Best vacation yet! Thank you, FUD!

Type 1 & LADA
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I just got back from our best family vacation yet! We went to the beach for five days and it was so much fun! This vacation marks a pretty awesome return to living life since we hunkered down from COVID at my house…but more importantly, it marks a huge improvement in my LIVING with diabetes.

I’ll try to keep this short for an easy read, but this is the first vacation that we’ve gone on without any other family members tagging along to help out with the kids, or honestly, with my blood sugar concerns. My packing said a lot before we even left, because the amount of physical space that my diabetic supplies and back-up supplies took up was the smallest it’s ever been for a vacation. Every day we did the beach, the pool, the non-chain restaurants, the nearby National Parks…and it was all totally fine and relaxed. I swam in the ocean and played in the waves with my kids for hours out of Dexcom range and it was amazing. I know I can feel my lows and I set up my dosing for the exercise and it worked out just fine.

I had gotten to living life in a smaller and smaller box trying to chase bg and being afraid of every “maybe” low that might come along. Seeing @Eric in person and having a blast with him got me rethinking how small I had made my parameters for living. I was only eating at chain restaurants with published carb estimations, I was sticking to the same routines, same everything to try to control everything. My husband is a trooper deferring to what works for me…but I could tell how much he enjoyed eating at a different local restaurant every night on vacation. And after seeing @Eric eat and imbibe a really impressive amount of stuff throughout a few innings, I figured I could start to live a little bit more. I used to be adventurous with bg before having kids…but after having kids, I really reined it all in bc chasing little kids is a whole life phase marked by not having much control over anything. Now that my boys are older and more capable, I can let out the sides of my personal boundaries a bit more and have way more fun.

I took the boys out to one fort by myself bc my husband had to do a work meeting. I really didn’t know where we were going, what to expect, it was hot as heck and I had just done a pod change…but I figured it would be fine. We hiked and hiked and climbed and climbed and it was so much fun. My boys loved it. And I was able to fully enjoy it without distractions.

In summary, community is SO important for life and for tackling challenges. And FUD is the best community that I’ve ever had the pleasure of joining. Thank you for your positive influence and support along the way! I’m getting my groove back!

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Just checking in here after some prolonged absences myself to say - what a really nice post! Glad you had such a great time.

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Congrats on your new found freedom!!!

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Sounds like you had a great time! So happy to hear about your fun, and loved the beach pictures you sent!

I remember every single beach trip I have ever made - from way back at age 5 all the way through recent trips. Every single one of them was great. What wonderful lifetime memories you made not only for yourself, but for your boys too. :heart:

Let’s do it again soon!

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Being on the beach under a nearly full Strawberry Moon has been great fun on this year’s vacation!

I have packed the least amount of contingency supplies that I’ve ever packed. It’s funny to see how big of Tupperware containers I’d bring years ago with “try not to die” stuff…down to where I’m at now. #growth

I tried a different approach to my bg yesterday for the 10 hour drive. Of course a stronger basal, but then I’d just inject several units every two to three hours and eat pretty low carb as bg allowed. I don’t know about anyone else, but my insulin effectiveness is SO impacted by my exercise or sedentariness…so the main thing I have to watch out for is the transition from being in the car to suddenly pack muling a ton of stuff into our accommodations. If I have “this doesn’t do ANYTHING when I’m sitting still” insulin in my system upon arrival, let’s just say that I get a massive fueling opportunity.

My road bg yesterday was the best it’s been in those circumstances. I really have no choice but reactionary eating on those days.

Looking forward to a good vacation!

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Beautiful! Enjoy your vacation! And no whacking the boys with your dangerous ponytail! :rofl:

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Hey @T1allison, love the minivan in your pic. And glad you are able to approach the drive in a different way than years past. Picture looks lovely.

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As soon as the diagnostic on the transporter pad finishes, I’m gonna beam myself over to join you!! :flying_saucer: :joy_cat: :joy_cat:

Actually we’re heading to the Oregon coast in July…and I CAN’T WAIT!!! :sunny: :shell: :fish: :swimming_woman:t2: :parasol_on_ground: :one_piece_swimsuit: :dark_sunglasses: :footprints:

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Plenty of room under the canopy!!!

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Wanted to show folks what I’ve been up to (down to?). Yes, that’s my feet, and yes, that’s the bow of the ship (RC Quantum) headed from New Zealand to Tahiti!! A bit of a “bucket list” trip for the wife and I…been talking about it for 15 years, decided to do it before we’re too old!

The real reason for this post is to report a bit on being a tester of the closed-beta test of Trio and my experience with it crossing the International Date Line! I wasn’t sure how the time zone changes and IDL would impact the app. I asked in advance and got some advice from a Loop user. The Trio beta handled going east just fine (loosing a day…Apr 3 did not exist for us). For that and the time zone changes going west, it reported the noticed difference in pod pump time vs iPhone; once synced, it waited for three G7 reports and started up again just fine. It also seemed to accept 1 hour changes going east ok too (we gained an hour almost daily from Sidney to Picton and around to Wellington), likewise for the next couple of days. But, Trio drew the line at gaining a whole day when we crossed the IDL going east (toward the US west coast)…it barfed all over me. I had to place the iPhone in manual date/time control as the ship’s WiFi and GPS just wouldn’t make it go and there’s no reasonable cell service at sea. As soon as I entered the date change for the second occurrence of Apr 16, the graph displayed the earlier time-line data, but the reported BG (from Dexcom) was frozen as well as the IOB, COB. The app was getting the data (I could see the current CGM data, etc. in the menu items; but the display would only show the insulin dosing for the previous 4/16 day and only when the time for it arrived on the second 4/16 day. That said, it would accept new bonus entries and display them in addition to those of the previous day. I tried contacting the dev’s, but all were asleep due to the time difference…except for one. He tried to help, reviewed my screen pics and Trio logs, but hadn’t been thru the experience (and let’s face it, dealing with timezone’s around the IDL aren’t for the faint of heart!).

I put the app in “non-closed” loop mode after trying about everything I could, dosed manually for food, high’s, etc. Just before bed (I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping without the working app), I decided to go head and enter the last timezone change to keep up with ships time (I think the last one before reaching Tahiti). For whatever reason, Trio advanced the time the one hour, and correctly started receiving and displaying G7 data, carbs, etc. After the third report from the G7, Trio indicated it was ready to start dosing for closed-loop. I turned on closed loop mode, monitored it for about 15-20 minutes and went to bed much appreciative that the app seemed to be working as advertised. It’s now functioned for 12 hours plus and I’m thankful to have it back as well as indebted to the folks that developed Oref (the original algorithm) and those that have contributed to it since!! As with all DIY items, it was up to me in the end and I chose to keep the app in open-loop, use it to does (with audible/visual confirmation), and more attention to the G7 app for any corrections (I’m on a cruise and become liberal with my eating!).

The lesson: Be ready to adapt on the fly! While I had the PDMs for Dex and Dash pods with me, had my kit with pens, needles, extra pods/sensors, etc., for our journey the only thing I used was a new pod to try and kick start the Trio app! Can’t say I loved the experience, but no harm done other than loss of some relaxation time on the ship. I’ve documented what occurred, what I tried, considerations of advice from other Trio testers, etc., and made recommendations I thought sound to the devs. We’ll see what get’s implemented! BTW, the public beta should be released soon for any adventurous soles!

Will be home in another couple weeks!

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BTW, did you know Austrailia and New Zealand get cold this time of year?! We’ve been in pants and long sleeve shirts until today!! We knew the season were inverse of the northern hemisphere, but didn’t appreciate how far south they are! Today is only the second time we’ve had our shorts on! Also, New Zealand is actually south of Austrailia a ways! Best to all,
Tom

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